Rescuers give up search for pilot missing in Channel

22nd July 2013, 0 comments

Rescue services on Monday gave up the search for a German pilot missing after his plane crashed into the English Channel on its way to France.

"In the absence of new findings after the search area was investigated several times, it was decided this morning to stop active searches," the French prefecture responsible for the Channel and the North Sea said in a statement.

The small SR22 plane, with only the pilot aboard, crashed in the Channel on Sunday after setting off from Blackbushe Airport southwest of London for Le Touquet in northeastern France.

The pilot had earlier been identified as British, but the prefecture said Monday he was German.

The decision to abandon the search was made by rescue services in Dover in southeastern England, the statement said.

The search was launched after debris from the plane was found off the coast of Dover.